I thought it worthwhile pulling together a series of posts on offline maps and how to get started. This an area in which we have particular expertise.

Many of the most popular mobile apps available today include maps. Apps like Pokemon Go and Uber are two excellent examples. Built in GPS in smartphones and tablets has enabled users to ask a multitude of ‘where questions': Where is the closest PokéStop? Where is my Uber driver?

The popularity of consumer mobile mapping apps is now moving to the enterprise, to save money, or make money. GIS is a technology which quietly sits behind many mobile enterprise mapping apps. GIS generates maps from raw data and allows users to ask both simple and complex ‘where questions’. More on GIS later.

Offline Maps and How to Get Started Part 1

Mobile maps often rely on wireless connectivity to work. As an example, when you see your Uber driver heading towards your location on the map, quietly in the background your smartphone is getting information back over wireless on the changing location of that driver.

So what would happen to your Uber app if you lose wireless connectivity?You guessed it. Your Uber app would stop working!

That leads us nicely into our discussion of offline maps. Imagine you are working in an area which either completely lacks wireless connectivity, or has poor connectivity. Your mobile map will either not work or take an age to load or change. That is both frustrating and inefficient.

In the early days of mobile development, apps which provided offline maps were simply impossible to build. That has changed.

Today no wireless connectivity = no problemMore than that, as we will discuss in this blog post series, there are now many ways to build mobile offline maps.

Offline Maps Base-maps and Layers

Let’s start with the basics. Maps are made up of two core elements: base-maps, and layers. Base-maps are just as the name suggests. They include World Imagery, World Street Map, World Topographic, Ocean Basemap, and more. Base-maps provide the map context: roads, buildings, parks, contours etc. They are simply a collection of pictures or tiles. OpenStreetMap is an example of a base-map source.

Layers are what sit on-top of a base-map. Think of map markers. These could be restaurants (point features), parks (polygon features) or rivers (line features). A layer represents features on the ground, and are symbolized accordingly. “Show me all the Mexican restaurants near my current location”, would be a ‘where question’ you might ask. And hey-presto the map shows icons on the map which show the locations of all Mexican restaurants nearby. Tap on one of these icons and a pop up shows information about that particular restaurant. That is another feature of layers, they are often interactive.

Interactive is very useful, and editable is another related layer option. Let’s move to a commercial use of offline maps to illustrate, our true focus in this article series. You are a utility worker using a mobile mapping app outdoors. Today you are inspecting a power pole. You tap the point on the mobile map which represents the power pole you are inspecting. In the pop up the pole material is listed as wood. You can see it is aluminum. If this layer is editable you can change that field from wood to aluminum. Now suppose the next power pole you need to inspect is not on the mobile map. You need to add it. Again an editable layer will allow you to add this new point feature. These updates will be pushed back to the data source via your wireless connection for all to see. Get the idea?

Let’s close out part 1 of this blog series here. In the next article we will discuss how we take base-maps and layers offline.

That is a terrible pun, but an interesting question. One worth exploring.

The Rise and Rise of Location Technology

Let’s start with what is location technology?

Leveraging the built in GPS your mobile device knows where you are at all times. That means it can find what and who is around you. How it does that is through location technology. As an example, fire up your favourite mapping app and ask the question “Where is the nearest gas station?”. The map magically shows all stations close to your current location. Now that is a simple question. How about something more complex. Show me all the homes for sale within a 5 mile radius of my current location which are priced under $200,000.

You get the idea. Location technology is focused on providing users the ability to display and query location based data. Maps are the most common display method. But is location technology the same as mapping technology? That is a tricky one. Both yes and no.

Location technology is really designed to answer where questions. You will come across terms like location intelligence and location analytics. The complexity of the where question will determine the most appropriate location technology to use. Google maps is perfect for answering simple where questions. Geographic information systems (GIS) are designed to answer both simple and complex where questions. For more on GIS options read our recent GIS-Lite blog post. With ArcGIS, Esri provide the most widely used GIS in the world. Our friends at Centigon Solutions have built a GIS lite solution which integrates into existing business intelligence platforms. Open source and other proprietary solutions have their own flavours of location technology.

So where does your question fit on the location technology spectrum? That’s really at the core of what we do as a company. It’s why we introduced our Discovery Workshop. Forget the technology for now, first what is the problem. Fitting the technology to the problem, which has historically been the approach, is backwards.

Pokemon Go is built on location technology: maps, features, geo-location, geo-fencing … it’s all there. The location component of Pokemon Go has helped make this a compelling mobile app. You may not realise, but increasingly you are using location technology in your daily lives. Both at work and at play.

Those English are a funny lot. Its been an odd few weeks on their little island. In the Euros football (soccer) championship, Iceland (population 300, 000) beat England (population 53 million) 2-1. Andy Murray won the Wimbledon tennis tournament (let’s not here get into the England v British discussion). And then there was Brexit. The English have voted to separate from the EU.

Oh dear!

Stuck in GIS Brexit?

With Brexit the Brits have opted for separation. So what do I mean by GIS Brexit? This post is about the many advantages of integration. Advantages, over time, the English will realise far outweigh the costs.

Think about your GIS. As I’ve mentioned many times before, GIS is coming out of the shadows. Once perceived narrowly as purely mapping software, today it is being used more widely to solve business problems. In isolation GIS is powerful software, but when integrated with other business systems it really shines. Let me share with you two examples:

Utilities- ArcGIS-Maximo Integration

Maximo is an IBM enterprise asset management (EAM) system. It is a very powerful solution used for creating and storing inspection information. Maximo Anywhere provides a set of resources for building and deploying mobile apps that integrate with IBM Maximo. Though Maximo Anywhere has a mapping component, it is very limited. We were approached by a large organization to integrate ArcGIS with Maximo. GIS functionality and offline capabilities were key requirements.

The organization needed an intuitive mobile application which allowed field staff to switch between a Maximo Anywhere powered inspection form and ArcGIS map interface with various GIS tools. The integrated solution needed to work without wireless connectivity so offline maps and feature layer editing and offline inspection forms. When back online inspection data was pushed back into Maximo, while ArcGIS data was uploaded to the respective ArcGIS layer.

This integrated solution brought together the best of both worlds: Maximo, a powerful EAM solution and ArcGIS.

Mining – ArcGIS-acQuire Integration

acQuire is described as a Geoscientific Information Management (GI) solution. Targeted at mining and natural resource companies, it enables the capture, management and delivery of geoscientific observations. We were approached by a large mining company. Their exploration geologists were using acQuire to record sample data. But they needed a mobile solution which provided both GIS functionality and offline capabilities. Using GPS on the mobile device an ArcGIS driven mapping interface was developed which allowed geologists to create a point on the map marking a sample site. From this point a form could be opened which linked to the acQuire system allowing detailed sample information to be collected. Again once online the sample data was pushed back into acQuire while the GIS data was uploaded to ArcGIS.

ArcGIS and acQuire integrated proved a very popular solution to the exploration geologists, saving much time and effort.

Integration has many advantages. Synergy, or the creation of a whole that is greater than the simple sum of its parts, is a key advantage of integration. GIS when integrated with other business systems can be very powerful in helping to solve problems.

Interested in integrating GIS with your business systems? Contact us on 801-733-0723.

New technology is today helping to provide solutions to these challenges. Key among these technologies is GIS.

Water Utilities: GIS has Changed Have You?

GIS is not new. It is a technology which today is undergoing dramatic changes. Changes which are making it easier to afford, access and use. So what are these changes?

Cloud Based GIS is a Game Changer

Gone are the days when you as an organization need to deal with the complexity and expense of setting up and hosting a GIS internally. Cloud based GIS is now here. That means others maintaining your GIS, simply set up a subscription to Esri’s ArcGIS for example and go. Its as simple as that. GIS subscriptions are very affordable even to the smallest utilities. Internal staff are no longer required to maintain and update your GIS. Maybe most importantly it has never been easier to administer a GIS and publish maps.

If cloud based GIS solutions are not your cup of tea, with releases like Portal for ArcGIS, you can now host your own version of ArcGIS Online inside your firewall.

No More Data Silos

We once lived in a world where authoritative data was hard to find. Reliable water main data was over here, updated valve inspection data over there. A GIS provides a central system for all your data. Your organizations authoritative data or system of record. Anybody in your organization who needs access to any asset or asset related data can simply access your GIS.

Mobile Maps, Mobile GIS Apps

Mobile devices – smartphone, and tablets – are transforming society. Today we all carry miniaturized computers, which know through GPS where they are at all times. Apps which provide interactive maps are extremely popular. GIS not only provides maps, it allows water utility field staff to better get their jobs done.

We have been building a simple asset management mobile ArcGIS application for utilities which works both online and offline, is configurable and runs on any device and any platform (Apple, Android, Windows). Its an elegant solution for those who are looking to move away from ArcPad or cannot afford enterprise GIS asset management platforms.

New Configurable Applications for Water Utilities

There has been a new move in the world of GIS to provide focused, targeted configurable applications. Esri have been particularly busy here. ArcGIS for Water Utilities is a suite of applications designed to solve specific challenges. Whether it is tracing illicit discharge, finding polluters, analyzing water loss, responding to emergencies, generating water reports or connecting with customers. There is an easy to set up application designed for that purpose.

We have been working with a number of utilities helping them take advantage of these solutions.

GIS has come a long way in the last 2 years. More affordable, easier to access and use. If you are not actively using GIS and the new tools available to manage your water utility, you are missing out on a crucial time and cost saving technology.

GIS is widely understood to be mapping technology. Answering questions like “How do i get from A to B?”. It is true that maps are the common output from a GIS, but in reality the technology answers any and all location based questions. In the commercial sector these are often questions which today go unanswered. But, as we will discuss in this post, staying focused on and changing workflows is the key to commercial GIS success.

Changing Workflows is the key to Commercial GIS Success

Let’s start by discussing what we mean by workflows with some examples:

Property Listing in Real Estate

Workflow: “Today to list a new property on our web site or listings service, we first visit the property and make notes, take pictures. Next we input this information into a computer system. Once completed we update our web site with this new information, and share the listing with public property listing services.”

Challenge: Getting a new property listed so we can start marketing and selling can take up to a week.

Assessing Risk in Insurance

Workflow: “Commonly we assess risk with spreadsheets and running formulas. So the information provided by a potential new client is run through our process. The output is a list of numbers. We have done things this way for the last 30 years.”

Challenge: Risk assessment is often limited and hard to interpret.

Sample Data Collection in Mining

Workflow: “Our exploration geologists often work in remote areas. They gather samples often using pen and paper and GPS units. This data is then manually entered into our mining database for later analysis.”

Challenge: The process is manual leading to inaccuracy and varying levels of detail.

There you have three workflows from three different industries. The workflows and challenges described are each taken from meetings with clients. Notable in each meeting was no focus on maps. No mention of GIS. The challenges of the current workflows and recognition of a need for change was the driver and focal point of each meeting.

Inherently, each of these workflow challenges were centred on location (excuse the pun). Not obvious?

Automating Property Listings in Real Estate Using GIS

We replaced our real estate clients old workflows for sharing property listings with a new GIS driven solution. Using a smartphone while on site at the new property, agents can now collect information, take photos and generate a new listing by tapping one button on their mobile GIS app. What once took 1 week now takes 1 hour!

Mobile GIS for Sample Data Collection in Mining

For our mining customer manual data collection has been replaced with mobile devices, leveraging GPS and custom forms integrated into a map based framework. Rich accurate sample data is now being collected by exploration geologists.

Using GIS to Assess Risk in Insurance

Location is a crucial factor in assessing risk in insurance. Floods, earthquakes, weather events are all location based events. Assessing risk based on paths of hurricanes, distance from rivers, lakes, the coast and faults are hugely important. As are location based tools to provide answers to questions like; “Show me homes we insure which are valued at over $400,000 and are within a rivers floodplain”. Our insurance client now uses maps to view their insured properties and run analyses and generate reports using GIS tools. Company profits have dramatically risen as business is picked up from their competition who still use outdated workflows.

So much of commercial operations are based around location. The history of GIS has been focused on discussing maps and the core technology. Fast moving, profit driven commercial companies are presented with many challenges which can be solved by GIS. Staying focused on recognising workflow challenges and using GIS to provide solutions is the key to commercial GIS success.

We hear more and more about configurable GIS applications. Take an application which has already been built, change the map feed and make some minor aesthetic changes, publish and you have a functional applications which allows users to access and use your data. Increasingly GIS vendors are releasing these so called “configure first” or COTS applications. But these applications are commonly targeted at office based staff. Flexibility is a wonderful things. But when it comes to mobile, configurable is not a term often used. And yet GIS users increasingly are looking for GIS mobile apps they can both customize and extend.

In this post we will discuss this polarized GIS world we currently inhabit, and focus on a new move toward truly flexible mobile GIS apps.

Why can I not find a configurable mobile GIS App?

Types of Mobile GIS Apps

Before we consider the question of configurable mobile GIS apps, let’s first provide some context. Mobile apps can be built in three ways:

1. Native apps – these are applications built for a specific platform and often distributed via the various app stores. Thus, an app built in Objective-C for Apple devices will not run on an Android or Windows mobile device. Native apps remain popular on mobiles. They are fast and can handle large data-sets.

2. Mobile Web apps – these are applications which are opened in your mobile browser: Chrome, Firefox, Safari. They run on any device and any platform. Web apps can be designed so they are responsive, or look good on any mobile device you might be using: laptop, tablet or smartphone. Mobile Web apps are commonly written in HTML5/Javascript, huge advances are underway here with 3-D and offline now becoming popular.

3. Hybrid mobile apps – these are Mobile Web apps which have been converted to be native-like using technologies like Phonegap/Cordova. Like native, they are installed apps which have access to the deeper level sensors on a mobile device: compass, bluetooth etc.

Every GIS project is different. Requirements vary widely. Any decision made on the best mobile solution will be determined by the requirements. In some cases it makes sense to use or build a native app, these include:

– Focus on only one platform: “we need an Android app only”.
– Large budget to support building multiple versions of the same app for different platforms.
– The need to support large data-sets.
– Functionality only available in native SDK’s eg. offline routing.

If you need a super flexible mobile GIS app which you can style/ brand as required, provides specific tools, an app which fits your organizations workflows then web and/or hybrid may be your best bet. Let’s dig a little deeper.

Linking Native Mobile GIS Apps

Today’s native apps are canned apps. Meaning, they are designed to perform specific tasks in a certain way with pre-designed workflows. They cannot be configured or extended. You get what you get.

There has been a move recently to link native apps. As an example, you are using a data collection GIS app and would like to find how to get to your next destination. Having your data collection app open a routing app is one new approach. It means users need to install, update and work with multiple different mobile apps. But does help overcome, to some degree, the narrow focus of native GIS apps.

New Configurable Mobile GIS Apps

Mobile Web apps are by their very nature flexible. They are easier to develop and maintain than native apps. Most importantly they are configurable, and can be extended. One very attractive new way to build mobile web apps is to use widgets. These are GIS tools which can be added to any mobile web app as needed. Need a measure tool, maybe editing, draw, custom form. Widgets provide an amazing level of flexibility to configure, customize and extend any mobile Web app.

Need access to high accuracy GPS from your web app? Simply convert the app to a hybrid app using Phonegap/Cordova.

Need a mobile app which works offline? Again mobile web to the rescue.

Web apps provide a new level of flexibility and configurability to mobile users.

As we have mentioned the choice of mobile GIS app is very much determined by requirements. Mobile Web apps provide considerably more flexibility than native mobile apps. If you are frustrated that existing mobile GIS apps do not fully fit your needs; lacking tools and good workflows. It might be worth exploring mobile Web GIS apps.

Mobiles are everywhere. Smartphones, tablets, even these new ‘somewhere in between’ phablets. They are cheap, come with amazing additions (GPS, camera, compass etc) and most importantly can be loaded up with an incredible assortment of apps. Go to the various app stores and the selection is amazing. Add to this those ever more popular Web apps, opened in your mobile browser, and things become almost overwhelming. Mobile technology has changed our world. Look around you and see how many people have their noses in a mobile.

GIS Transforming Data Collection

This post is focused on how location technologies like GIS in combination with mobiles are transforming how we gather and share data. We can split data collection into 3 distinct phases:

Phase 1 – Paper-based Data Collection

Pen and paper was once the only option we had to collect data. Forms, notes, addresses, maybe with the addition of a picture here and there. With the advent of the computer age, this data was then manually, and painfully, input into an organizations computer system. Sometimes stored centrally, but most often with a department. Inaccurate, time consuming, and isolated (stove-piped) were the common outcomes. But there were few other options.

Phase 2 – The First Mobile devices and Local Storage

Phase 2 saw a big shift. Slowly we began to see the emergence of mobile technology “technology to the rescue”. Hand held electronic devices started to emerge. There were two stages in this evolution:

Stage 1 – Trimble and other hardware providers began releasing Windows based handhelds. These were ruggedized devices designed specifically for field use. Included were inbuilt sensors providing high accuracy GPS, also data collection software packages like ArcPad. But price was a barrier for many organizations, with middle to high end solutions costing potentially in excess of $10,000.

Stage 2 – In the late 2000’s there began to emerge lower cost mobile devices. Apple, and Google produced operating systems to compete with Windows (iOS and Android respectively), and a slew of manufacturers began churning out smartphones and tablets. The new mobile era was upon us. Tech driven data collection just became much cheaper. But limited.

In the early days of mobile the focus of data collection was on local storage. In GIS speak that means loading your mobile up with a shapefile, editing that shapefile while in the field then, when back in the office, downloading that shapefile to your PC, maybe combining your edits with others manually. This was no doubt better than paper-based methods, but still manual elements remained as did the dangers of stove-piping (this is our protected departmental data).

Phase 3 – Cloud based Mobile Data Collection

2015 marks the popular emergence of cloud based mobile data collection. Translated that means low cost automation of the data collection process. Two key elements make this era transforming.

2) Authoritative data – No more stove-piping. With cloud based mobile data collection, all data is pushed to one central data source. This is the organizations system of record. Anybody in the organization who needs data knows how and where they access the managed, reliable, current source.

We discussed in a recent blog post entitled Wondering what a successful ArcGIS Implementation looks like? how we helped a real estate company eliminate paper based data collection with the cloud based ArcGIS Online. As the company CEO said “finally our agents are true salespeople and not data entry secretaries”. The data collection workflow is shown below:

Agents using smartphones and tablets with Collector for ArcGIS or GeoForm are collecting data about new properties for sale: land area, features on the land etc and images, and with the click of a button uploading all that data to the company ArcGIS subscription. From there the new listing is shared with others within the organization and pushed to the company web site and public listing services.

There are some intriguing possibilities now for those looking to improve how they collect data. We find paper-based and shapefile ‘local’ methods are still in use. But new low cost cloud based mobile data collection solution’s are now here.

]]>http://www10.giscafe.com/blogs/mobilegis/2015/09/10/gis-transforming-data-collection/feed/0Now we are not called mapping guys or gals what is holding us back?http://www10.giscafe.com/blogs/mobilegis/2015/08/27/now-we-are-not-called-mapping-guys-or-gals-what-is-holding-us-back/
http://www10.giscafe.com/blogs/mobilegis/2015/08/27/now-we-are-not-called-mapping-guys-or-gals-what-is-holding-us-back/#commentsThu, 27 Aug 2015 13:00:41 +0000http://www10.giscafe.com/blogs/mobilegis/?p=1313

I’ll admit it was a little tongue in cheek. But my blog post entitled “Please stop calling me the mapping guy” proved to be amazingly popular. Our blog is generally well read but this post pushed things off the chart. See Google analytics below:

But a well read blog post does not indicate approval or disapproval. Simply interest in the topic. From the responses I received it would seem many readers agree with the general thrust of my argument. Which leads me to this next post ….

Now we are not called mapping guys or gals what is holding us back?

Where am I going here?

That we still live in a one-dimensional world. That’s where. And it is that which is holding back both the adoption of our technology and us as GIS professionals.

So what do I mean by one-dimensional?

Allow me to walk through my thinking. The world of technology is changing at a rapid pace. Cloud and mobile are revolutionizing how we live and work. The old ways of thinking, interacting and working are being replaced by new faster, more efficient methods. Today we carry with us computers at all times, connecting to cloud based services which are available 24×7. Mobile computing is today’s reality. Mobility means changing location. Changing location means a dramatic increase in location based questions. That means greater demand for technology and people who can answer these questions.

That must therefore mean GIS services and solutions are (figuratively) flying off the shelves. GIS professionals are continually turning away job offers. True?

I believe that is coming, but not here yet. Why?

That Mapping Label (again)

Maps are both a blessing and curse. They are easy to communicate (I work with maps, we can provide a map to view your data), wonderful for discerning patterns, beautiful to look at, the most perfect medium for ‘mashing up’ data. But ..

To be labelled a mapping person is one-dimensional. That label lessens my role, expertise and value to my employer/clients. I provide solutions to location based problems to improve the efficiency and insight of any organization. I want to be described as:

When did you last hear a CEO say “Our mapping person is important to us, since he/she is focused on saving us money and improving our profits”?

Location Technology is the (old) new Kid on the Block

GIS is new to many organizations. The adoption of new is always slow. For those who are already using GIS, there has been caution in moving to new cloud based solutions. Solutions like ArcGIS Online are the future of GIS technology, providing new ways to answer the location based questions of today. This caution and the confusion created by the new remain challenges. Today GIS is for everybody not just for those trained in its use. As GIS professionals we need to take that on board. I want to attend a GIS conference which is just focused on the challenges of widening the adoption of the technology, and uses none of our GIS vernacular.

How can we help small private companies recognise the benefits GIS can bring to their organization (without using the same old site selection examples)?
How can I get the attorneys in our organization to use GIS for their cases in place of spreadsheets?

As a company we take a holistic view of our customers challenges. We guide, implement, educate. We approach problems and solutions in a multi-dimensional manner. Always focused on location as the core component of our solution-set.

Let me illustrate how we try to approach client challenges. We recently had an organization contact us about high-accuracy GPS. Now we like the new Trimble R1; it is low cost, small in size, offers high precision and connects to any Bluetooth enabled mobile device. Rather than provide a simple answer to their specific question, we asked “what problem are you trying to solve?”. What we learned was fascinating. They told us they required a simple way to collect data with sub-meter accuracy. In advancing the conversation we discovered automating this process was important, “having an easy way to view this data would be wonderful” was mentioned. In summary, we found the GPS unit was but one part of a much broader location based problem. We were able to provide a complete solution-set to the satisfaction of the client. As both a company, and individuals, that defines us.

My conclusion. There is a dramatic increase in the number of questions being asked, and answers which can be provided, around location. As GIS professionals we have both the technology and expertise to answer these questions. Sure we can start conversations with the term map. But if we lean on that word too heavily, we undersell our true value.

Inside of WebMapSolutions we repeat often “GIS anywhere, anytime, on any device”. The phrase is actually included in our mission statement.

But what does this phrase mean to us?

We will jump around a little in this blog post in explaining.

Some while ago we wrote an article entitled The Democratization of GIS. In the post we wondered whether GIS is like the automobile of the early 1900’s, and paraphrasing Henry Ford:

“I’m going to democratize GIS, and when I’m through, everybody will be using the technology.”

The democratization of GIS is about mass market adoption.

The launch of the first iPad caught our attention at WebMapSolutions. We realised then the enormous implications of this release. Mobile devices meant easy access to computers (smartphone, smablet and tablet are simply miniaturized computers) anywhere. That term anywhere implies location, and changing location. With built-in GPS that meant mobile devices knew their location in space. That naturally meant mobile users could discover information about their current location. This has been the key driver behind the location technology and GIS revolution currently underway: the demand for location based information. And the revolution has only just begun.

Consumers have led, with business following very slowly behind. But like the adoption of the Internet, that will change. And rapidly.

ArcGIS Evolution

We will expand on this topic in a separate blog post. But esri continue to lead the location technology and GIS space with their evolution of ArcGIS. GIS has always been confusing. that’s why so many of us have spent much time, in school and on the job, learning. To non-GIS folk it can be a little intimidating.

We have spoken in other posts on traditional versus emerging GIS. This has been our way to try to frame and understand the dramatic changes underway. We see many not wanting to leave the comfy GIS niche they have lived in for so long. Part of this is driven by lack of understanding, part by fear of the new, but much is down to fear of change. A natural human reaction.

ArcGIS stretches across both worlds: traditional and emerging. Working with current and prospective clients we are seeing the following general adoption patterns:

– GIS departments who could never afford ArcGIS server are testing ArcGIS Online through desktop licenses.
– GIS departments hesitant or unable to upgrade from older versions of ArcGIS server. Concerned about ArcGIS Online credits, security etc.
– GIS departments gradually moving to ArcGIS Online in phases
– GIS departments fully embracing ArcGIS Online.
– Organization without GIS but who recognize their need for location intelligence, without understanding GIS.
– Organization without GIS who do not recognise the potential benefits of the technology.

We find platform adoption conversations vary widely; from outright resistance to immediate acceptance. But, moving clients from a naturally caution stance (traditional), to adopting of a new cloud/on-premise ArcGIS model (ArcGIS Online and ArcGIS Portal respectively) has its challenges. Staying focused on the problem helps guide discussions. But if only it were that simple.

GIS Anywhere, Anytime, on any Device

No longer is GIS an office based tool. Today the cloud and mobile have opened the technology to users anywhere. Your GIS web application can now be used on site just as well as it can in the office. With the cloud, downtime is a thing of the past, your GIS and data is accessible at all times. Finally, no longer are applications built for just one device. With HTML5/Javascript GIS web apps can run on any device; smartphone, phablet or tablet and indeed across platforms: iOS, Android and Windows. Add to that offline and 3D and more and you have a range of advanced capabilities. All running in the browser.

At last technology whose focus is location has no boundaries to use.

Emerging GIS Innovation Units

At WebMapSolutions we have always tried to take a long term view of GIS. We recognised early the potential impact of mobile and cloud technology. And have been writing about the resulting GIS revolution for a number of years. We’ve begun to hear others mention innovation and research units. Building small groups within companies whose mission is focused on emerging GIS; new ways to apply the technology. We are super encouraged by these developments, but would like to add a note of caution.

For any emerging GIS solution at this stage to be successful it need target low hanging fruit.

In our own way our company is its own emerging GIS innovation unit. We have a mix of technologists. But most importantly our direction is guided by folk who have always had an emerging view of GIS, who successfully navigated the Internet GIS boom. They ensure our focus is on low hanging fruit. What are common client problems which can be solved by new ways to apply GIS. Solutions which are simple to demonstrate and implement. Too dramatic a change in existing workflows, or opening new markets with the technology is risky. We try to take small steps forward not giant leaps.

Our goal always being to provide GIS anywhere, anytime, on any device.

Call us on 801-733-0723.

]]>http://www10.giscafe.com/blogs/mobilegis/2015/03/23/gis-anywhere-anytime-on-any-device/feed/02015 GIS Predictionshttp://www10.giscafe.com/blogs/mobilegis/2015/01/02/2015-gis-predictions/
http://www10.giscafe.com/blogs/mobilegis/2015/01/02/2015-gis-predictions/#commentsFri, 02 Jan 2015 19:43:23 +0000http://www10.giscafe.com/blogs/mobilegis/?p=1130Happy New Year. Like many other we have been mulling over our 2015 GIS predictions. But before we jump in let’s review 2014.

GIS in 2014

We saw GIS in 2014 as a year of advancement and self examination. Mobile technology, fed by data and services in the cloud, has put location on the tips of many tongues.

Show me who and what is near me

Give me the ability to search and query using my current (GPS) location

Give me (spatial) tools to help me run my business

The (niche) GIS industry is in the process of reinventing itself. Our blog post suggesting GIS is Splitting was met with a considerable reaction: from outright agreement to “what do these guys know they don’t even have GIS in their title!”

We don’t actually believe GIS is splitting, but it is definitely changing. In 2014 we saw a more polarised GIS sector; on one end traditional GIS, or business as usual. On the other emerging GIS; the wild west of GIS: uncharted, rule free, a little scary, but filled with opportunities. We also began to see discussions on these changes, challenges and opportunities.

2015 GIS Predictions

So what do we see for 2015?

1. More players entering the GIS market

That equates to greater competition, new ideas and approaches. In an expanding sector this is natural and healthy. For established GIS companies, this is both an opportunity, and threat. Embracing change will be the key to their success in 2015.

2. Increasing emphasis and focus from the key GIS vendors on emerging GIS

Consumer GIS, business GIS, GIS for marketing and advertising, location analytics. These are but a few of the newly emerging, in demand areas for location technology. 2015 will see a much greater emphasis put on these new emerging applications of location technology.

3. A flood of new ideas and applications of location technology

I’ll pick on three examples from 2014 which I thought were excellent new spatial ideas. What3words have taken a new look at addressing. By breaking the world up into 3 m squares, and providing a 3 word address for each square, they have built a universal addressing system. We are located at occupiers.breakdowns.blazed. With Uber you can get a taxi, private car or rideshare from your mobile phone. Theirs is a system and app driven by spatial technology, and a huge disruption to the traditional taxi paradigm. GISi are doing some very interesting work with indoor GIS

We will see more What3words, GISi indoors and Ubers in 2015: new disruptive workflows driven by location technology.

4. Increasing emphasis on Integration

Dare we say ‘playing nice with others”. 2015 will see a flood of GIS integrations with other systems. There is a huge interest now in leveraging the power of GIS to help to run business’. Traditional business systems such as SAP provide very limited location based insights. That will begin to change in 2015.

As an example we have been in discussion with SAP on how to integrate with ArcGIS. How to combine business data with GIS: map visualization, spatial search, analysis and more. The video below shows a simple example of how we are approaching this integration:

5. Greater focus on Simplicity

GIS is confusing. Combine that with mobile; many different platforms (iOS, Android, Windows), and device types (smartphones, tablets, phablets), and you have a world of complexity. In 2015 we see a much greater focus put on simplicity. In hiding the complexity and providing organizations and users simple, intuitive solutions.

Let me illustrate from our experiences. We primarily build applications which are driven by location technology/GIS. Often initial customer engagements start at the application level: “We need an application which does X”. But to provide application X much is needed in the background: data, a GIS platform to serve up this data and provide other spatial services, an understanding on the users of application X; their skills, data access levels etc. A conversation focused on application X quickly becomes one of complexity and multiple parts.

We have worked hard on breaking this complexity into smaller, understandable parts. We have developed a defined 4 part process for all projects. Starting with the big picture and planning, through data prep, platform discussions and set up, to application development.

This approach has helped us focus on each of the key required pieces separately. It has proven a very effective way to help simplify the complexity.

6. More and better GIS Applications

At the end of the day location technology and GIS provide users new tools for use in and outside of work. We see a wave of new and better GIS applications being built in 2015 which are:

1. Simple and intuitive. No more complex GIS-centric, tool filled applications.
2. Accessible, and use-able by everybody.
3. Configurable and extensible. A single application which can be easily altered.
4. Cross platform and cross device. All GIS application will be use-able on any device: PC, smartphone or tablet.
5. Provide disconnected capabilities.

As a company we build GIS powered solutions which run anywhere, anytime, on any device and are accessible to all. We hope to see many others taking a similar approach in 2015.

As GIS starts to truly find its feet and adapt to these unique times, we believe 2015 will be a ground breaking year.